Belgian Portal Zimmo Releases MLS-like Platform Multilist

The Belgian real estate portal company Zimmo has today announced the release of Multilist, a collaborative platform for real estate agents.

Multilist has been modelled on the American MLS (multiple listings service) system and will allow agents to share both listing information and commissions more easily according to Zimmo Business Director, Yves Vanderveken.

“We’re seeing that Belgian agents want to assist increasingly more buyers in their search for a property, including outside their own portfolio. Multilist offers the possibility to quickly and efficiently search other agents’ offers and easily contact them. While one agent can help their buyer faster, another agent can let their seller benefit from increased interest in their property.”

Much like in the U.S. housing market, Multilist will charge agents to allow the sharing of commission between the listing agent and the agent who brings in a buyer who ends up transacting.

“Real estate professionals pay a flat rate to share an unlimited number of properties and use Multilist. The agents mutually agree on the fee for the sale/purchase. Our goal is to ease the work of real estate professionals so they can focus on the real estate transactions themselves. This way, an agent can offer an even more qualitative service to the end client,” concludes Vanderveken.

The idea of introducing an American style MLS has been spoken about in various European real estate industries and backed by several portals over the years. Until now though little has been done to implement a system that sees U.S. realtors collaborate with their competitors.